Phanta

The song is about the 1968 Doomsday cult called the "Children of God" that was composed mostly of people from the hippie movement. It is funny to see everyone overanalyze this song though... :)

Whoaaa I'm about two decades late, but just in terms of the story the song is telling, can anyone explain what the crash was at the end, and the frantic messaging to the singer? Was it 'control' blowing up one of their own bases to try and eliminate a threat?

I absolutely love this song - what does the word phanta mean?

I think they are going to another planet,but that is probally too obvious...

I know charmedpei, what does phanta mean? I love this song too!

They probably were on drugs while writing this song

phantom...maybe.

Maybe the word phanta is slang for 'phantasy', you know, like a fantasy, illusion or daydream, you get the gist. As for the whole song, I don’t know. I'm not sure what it means, I have some theories but I just say this and to keep it short, I think it’s like how f’ up society is and people being mislead and disillusioned (I dunno, I would say particularly with the unrealistic expectations and with how women are viewed in society or perhaps segregation or even both or just society in general) and she thought that she had finally gotten free from it all but discovers she too has been corrupted by it and it’s hard because not to ‘nowhere is alright’ as society is inescapable. I don’t know, or maybe it could mean nothing at all and like they were just ‘on drugs’ lol. Anyway, i love the eery, futuristic feel it’s like almost haunting. Plus how it is ambigious and could mean a lot of things but you get the feeling that there is a message in there somewhere is what makes it so great as well.

I assumed it was based on a real news event from the dude at the beginning and hearing about this story inspired them to write a song about it... but I guess I'm wrong.

Hey, it could be ArianeTheFool. Like in their other song 'Bang, Bang!'

I interpret it as being about war and violence, in particular that which stems from ignorance.

Their description of 'Day Two' always reminds me of those stories you here about innocent civillians getting shot in war zones when they're mistaken (or in some cases 'mistaken') for enemies. It's got that whole feel of being scared of something you don't know much about ('Radar's going off'). 'Text reads "Big Danger" // But this just looks tired', makes me think Le Tigre are perhaps hinting at the effects of authority influence, and how sometimes people can end up changing their minds or actions because of an authority figure or propaganda. They think 'Now here's alright' because this supposed threat has been killed.

'Day 3' seems to talk about the aftermath of the previous day. Now that they've killed this 'Big Danger', they've realised that it was actually harmless. 'Control killed a phantom // From inside their heads' could describe how what they thought they were killing wasn't actually real, but instead just a 'phantom' they'd conjoured up 'inside their heads'.

Now 'nowhere's alright' because even the innocent are getting attacked.

Just a theory, mind. But it seems to strike upon the same note as 'Bang Bang!', about how quickly people can jump to (wrong) conclusions, and the damage that does in today's society where everyone owns a gun and there's a constant war.

When I read the lyrics, what I get from it is that there is a landscape of little or nothing dangerous, but everybody is looking for a threat.

Wait tower Radar's going off I see a small creature Who can barely walk

My data says "large" But what I see is small Text reads "Big Danger" But this just looks tired

I think "tower" is referring to a power or powerful entity, government or media. Something small, docile, and possibly injured, is spotted, but the info on this "creature" given by "tower" states that it is large, "big danger", and a major threat.

Come in tower All our datas wrong Research inconsistent We misread it all

There was no monstor And what's left is near dead Control killed a phantom From inside thier heads

I think this is saying that all the info, data, and research on this "threat" is wrong or imcomplete. There wasn't a "monstor", never really was a threat at all. I believe "control" is another name for "tower" and the power that built up this "creature" as a threat. The "phantom" that "control" "killed from inside thier heads", is the idea of the "threat". So the power went about trying to destroy the "threat", by among other things, spreading propaganda of fear. This could refer to things such as the US government and Muslims, Nazis and Jews, the religious right/Republicans and homosexuals, the media and "dangerous" music/art, or any similar situations. As for "now here's alright" and "nowhere's alright", the first statement is saying this "place" is now "safe", and the second is saying nowhere is safe as long as things like this go on.